Windage

Last night I had Earth Science at WSU. You know that one science credit you don’t get done until senior year? Yea, that one. We had a test (surprise!)

After I finished I decided to walk around, I’d never seen campus at night (and since a guy had just been held up at gun point it seemed like a good idea). Walking through the RSC where no one was; over in front of the library (which, is it still open at 8pm?); and down back to the biology building.

But only one thing was nice about the walk, the wind.

It felt like it was forcing me to live. To see reality with eyes wide open and not forget the circumstances and all the happenings of life. (It also slapped me in the face with a leaf.)

(I saw a tweet by a friend, which read, “Just had a horrible nightmare and had to go outside to let that wind wake me up.” Which is exactly what I was feeling.)

I don’t want to over-spiritualize it, the wind. I won’t make a reference to Job and say that’s what I thought about, ‘cause it’s not. Nor will I reference John, ‘cause I didn’t think about that either.

Simply, I want to point to the beauty of it all. This place we inhabit, this creation we see, feel, and know. When under our feet hot hell rages, and above our heads a vast void extends, but on our faces the wind blows past. Trees grown under its pressure and seem to talk to one another (Ents!).

(Ironically enough my science class is all about how the world changes all the time, but climate change is bad… thatisall)

So feel the wind and see the clouds blow by, hear the birds sing their songs and the binding of the trees and know two things, we are not home yet and we are here, now for a reason.

Be not too easily pleased.

God Created Reality

Have you ever felt thwarted at your every turn? Having thought you’d done everything correctly and been as wise as possible in your decisions only to realize you’d failed? Attempting to grasp at the reasons for your failure but even in that failing to understand the breaking point.

Is there a proper way to respond to this? Is anger at your misunderstanding proper? What about confusion? What about complete indifference? Quite frankly, I don’t know what the right response is for those in this station. For in some sense anger seems correct because you desire to understand, but in some sense is your misunderstanding worth being angry over? Confusion seems proper because you have no idea what’s going on, but we linger here too long. Indifference seems most right in my mind, even though it might mean not learning a lesson at this exact moment.

Here’s my answer: sitting in a library looking at birds play while listening to some dang good banjo playing. That’s my answer. Trying to understand one thing: God created reality. For his own glory because that is (really it is, truly) my good.